Beverage Service and Hospitality
Domain 2 - Beverage Service and Hospitality
This domain tests the practical exam: can you run a service from greeting to payment with the correct sequence, equipment and calm communication? Advanced candidates are expected to diagnose faults, handle a decanting request, and guide a guest through a list without reciting a sales pitch.
Sequence and standards
- Greet, confirm the reservation, present the list, and offer water and aperitif in that order; never leave a closed list on the table.
- Present the bottle label-up to the host, state producer, cuvée, vintage and region, then open at the table unless the style demands otherwise.
- Pour a small taste to the host, then serve guests clockwise from the host's right; follow the house convention on who is served first.
- White and rosé at 8–12 °C, light red at 13–16 °C, full red at 16–18 °C, sweet wines at 6–8 °C, neat spirits at room temperature.
- Decant young tannic reds for aeration; decant old reds for sediment with a light beneath the shoulder and stop at the first haze.
- Open sparkling wine away from guests, loosening the cage and turning the bottle rather than the cork.
Faults and recovery
Cork taint is musty and damp-cardboard, not merely 'corky'. Oxidation shows bruised apple and sherry-like aldehydes; reduction shows struck match and cabbage and often blows off. Volatile acidity is nail polish, not vinegar. Replace a faulty bottle without argument, then taste the replacement.
Worked example
A guest orders a 1998 Barolo and asks for decanting. Reasoning: the wine is old and tannic with expected sediment; a wide-bottomed decanter and a light source are correct, but aeration should be minimal. Stand the bottle upright for 24 hours, decant slowly off the sediment, and serve immediately at 16–18 °C in a large tulip glass. Advising a long decant would risk the fragile aromatics.
Traps that cost marks
- Pouring the host's taste before presenting the label.
- Using the same glass for Champagne and mature red.
- Overfilling glasses; one-third full is the working maximum.
- Arguing with a guest about a fault instead of resolving it.